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Shahajiraje Bhosale

the eldest son of Maloji Bhonsale of Verul (present-day Ellora, Maharashtra). He brought the house of Bhosale into prominence. The princely states of Kolhapur, Satara and Thanjavur are Bhosale legacies. If Chatrapati Shivaji the great was the founder of the Maratha Empire, it was his father Shahajiraje who started the Marathas on that path.

By the late sixteenth century in central India, while religious and racial bigotry continued to be a feature of many Islamic rulers, cold realism dictated that capable locals from the majority community needed to be given positions of responsibility. One of the most enlightened Islamic rulers of the age was Ibrahim Adil Shah of Bijapur, who not only appointed many Hindus to key positions, but also changed the official court language from Persian to Marathi.

Shahajiraje had two sons by Jijau Masaheb, Sambhaji and Shivaji. Sambhaji was killed while on a military expedition in Karnataka. Shahajiraje had one son Vyankoji or Ekoji by his second wife, who came from the Mohite family. Vyankoji later ruled over the independent Maratha kingdom of Thanjavur.

Shahajiraje groomed all his sons as good administrators and men of taste, Shivaji in the Pune region, Sambhaji in Banglore, and Vyankoji in Thanjavur region. Shivaji encouraged cultivation, similarly Vyankoji also dug canals in Thanjavur and encouraged cultivation. Both were good administrators. Like Shahaji they were scholars and men of taste. Shahaji had caused a champukavya. At Bangalore, literary activities got a filip. His court poet Jayram Pindye had written Radha madhav vilas champu in flowery Sanskrit. His literary taste was carried by his sons, and bears strong influence on the mind of Shivaji and the Thanjavur branch. Thanjavur branch continued till modern times.

Shahaji's dream of an independent kingdom was made a reality by his second son, the great Shivaji Maharaj.